Extremely Unordinary, Unspecified Period of Time
by RandomImagination
Summary: Well, it's actually a week. Things get interesting for Conan. Not to mention more than slightly confusing. Tokyo's Composer has a new problem. Death god, meet the local corpse magnet. And no, he doesn't seem to like you.
1. And So It Begins

Random: I'm co-writing this with Kitsu-chan, by the way. So expect something a bit. . . different. If I'm trying not to insult the perverted girl sitting next to me with the big, heavy pillow. Who has a thing for naming herself and other people after murderers.

Kitsune: I want to write it!!!

Random: Who is also ignoring me. And **no**, never!

Kitsune: Why not!?

Random: Because you're slow and ruining my keyboard!!

Kitsune: that's no excuse

Random: It's my computer. What I say goes!

Kitsune: Fine….Kira.

Kira: DON'T CALL ME KIRA!!! I'M NOT A PSYCHO MURDERER!!!

Kitsune: (not paying attention) Neither one of us owns Detective Conan or The World Ends With You. Or the random references we'll be making to other animes. So you can just shove it. Besides, the two from the world ends with you are OCz based on the actual characters. It's not Joshua (the canon Composer from TWEWY). It's just an OC I made up, who's the Composer for the Tokyo area. :D

Kitsune: Also, to avoid confusion, let me just say that Conan will be referred to as Shinichi when he completely drops the act and really IS Shinichi.

Kira: YOU'RE NOT EVEN LISTENING TO ME! BESIDES, YOU HARDLY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT DETECTIVE CONAN!

Kitsune: Read and review. And enjoy :D

---------------------

It was an ordinary day. Japanese people were doing what Japanese people do (not to be racist or anything, they just were). It was a Tuesday, so many people were wearing their ninja garb and hopping across rooftops, but that's beside the point.

Our case study today is one seven year old boy. His name is Edogawa Conan. He was staring at the board while Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko chatted about "interesting" rumors and Haibara listened silently. He was the very picture of bordom, not even really paying attention to what his friends were saying.

"I hear we're gonna have another transfer student!" Ayumi said excitedly.

"Wow, three all in one year. We're getting a lot lately," commented Mitsuhiko in a surprised tone. It was odd, actually. Normally people only transferred into a school at the beginning of the year.

"Maybe there'll be a pattern and it'll be a boy this time, you know, since Conan came first, and then Haibara."

Which made Shinichi start, even though he hadn't been listening up till his alias was mentioned. _A pattern. . . that's a scary thought. Not like that one they mean, of course, but a different kind. Ugh,_ Shinichi shivered. He did _not_ want to deal with another not-child threatening to kill him.

"Everyone, settle dow. Come on kids, quiet please," the teacher spoke up, interrupting the many conversations around the room. "Today we have a new student. Class, this is Kazeshini Kaya."

The teacher gestured to her right, where a young, seven year old girl was standing. She was wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt under a pink jumper, and her long, blonde hair was pulled back in pig tails. She was even wearing stripped, pink kneesocks inside her flats.

"Hi everyone. I hope you'll treat me nicely," the girl said, bowing a little, before the teacher pointed her to the only empty seat, next to Genta.

Walking happily down the aisle in a manner that verged on skipping, Kaya sat down next to Genta and introduced herself with a smile on her face. "Nice to meet you."

Needless to say, Genta was very happy that the new girl was sitting next to him this time.

Class went on with dull normalcy, nothing breaking from routine. Eventually, class was over and it was time for them to go home. In Shinichi's opinion, the day was torturously long, as he was forced to sit there and do basic multiplication and simple kanji practice for hours.

"Do you want to hang out with us Kaya? We're the Shounen Tantei-dan!" Genta asked eagerly, with the directness and naivety only a child could muster.

"Shounen Tantei-dan? Sounds like fun, why not?" Kaya replied with a smile.

"Yay! Come on, let's see if we have any cases," Ayumi exclaimed as she started running towards Genta's shoe locker, Genta and Mitsuhiko following hurriedly, along with Kaya. Conan and Haibara however, walked calmly at a slower pace, lagging behind the real children.

"There's something weird about that Kazeshini girl, don't ya think?" Shinichi asked, dropping all facades for the conversation.

"I suppose, though it's not as if we can talk about being a bit weird."

Shinichi gave her a Look with half-lidded eyes, before replying, "I know that. Still there's something weird about her. And that thing Ayumi-chan said about patterns keeps bugging me."

"You don't seriously think that could happen," Haibara said, shooting him a startled glare. "It's too much of a coincidence, you know that. Even if things are playing out similarly. . . it's impossible."

"I know that. Still, something's bugging me. There's something not right about that girl."

The conversation halted as they walked into the locker room. Going over to their lockers, the two quickly changed into their outside shoes while tuning out the Detective Boys' excited shouts of "We have a case, we have a case!"

"So, what's it about?" Conan asked as he came over.

"Ritsu-kun says he wants us to find his cat. She hasn't shown up in a week, and he's worried."

"Okay! Where is he? We need to start looking for his cat right away!"

"I'm right here," said someone from behind them said, startling all of them.

"Oh, Ritsu-kun, you're here! Perfect, now we can go look!" Ayumi cheered happily.

"Where did you last see him?" asked Mitsuhiko seriously.

"Uh, I last saw him in the park last week."

"Yeah! Let's go check that out! Come on guys!" shouted Genta as he ran off in the direction of Beika Park.

------------------

(Kitsune: Time passed and now they're at the park.)

(Kira: Was that really necessary? I think it's obvious enough.)

"Let's go find the cat!" Kaya exclaimed as she punched her fist in the air.

"Okay, so where exactly did you last see your cat?" Conan asked, finally deciding to get into the investigation. Even if the kids could probably solve this one on their own, well, it'd been a long day, and he was bored. Even if murders had become his specialty, there was nothing wrong with solving a case like this.

Even if said case was not only just finding a lost pet, and so ridiculously easy that it wasn't even funny.

"Ano. . . over by those trees, I think," Ritsu-kun said, pointing over to the more forest-y area of the park.

"Okay, let's go!" the four shouted as they ran off, with Conan and Haibara once again following behind, watching Ritsu run to try and keep up with them.

As he was walking through the forest, looking for some inexistent clue he knew he'd never find—if there was a trail, it'd long gone cold—Shinichi was startled. He was horrified by what he saw.

Unable to help himself, the detective let out a gasp. There, hanging from the tree in the middle of a park, was a person. With a rope around their neck. Hanging there. Not breathing.

_This happens_ way _too often,_ some part of Shinichi's mind mused. The rest, however, was calculating. Calculating if the murder was likely to still be in the area, and as he walked up to check the body, calculating the time and cause of death.

"Ne, Conan-kun, what's wrong?" Ayumi asked, before she saw where he was looking. She gasped in horror, and then she screamed.

The others rushed over, shock and anger and horror evident in their expressions. Along with what Conan interpreted as a determination to catch whoever was behind it. _I was right. This happens way too often._

"It appears he was trying to make himself taller. Looks like he tried a little too hard though," Kaya commented in a naïve, careless tone. Not at all something a kid would use when first confronting death. Nowhere near it.

Shinichi was just staring at her. Haibara was being a lot more subtle, but she was more or less doing the same. The other three, however, were flat out shocked.

"How can you say that Kaya-chan? He's dead! He was murdered or he killed himself, but he's dead! How can you say that Kaya-chan?" Ayumi demanded, tears in her eyes. "It's just cruel! Someone died here! You shouldn't act so casual, we have to catch the person who did this, and make them pay."

"And what if there's no one left to catch, and this man just killed himself?" Haibara asked.

"Somehow, I don't think that's the case," Conan said, looking at a paper taped to the man's hand. "Take a look at this note. It says 'Any tree can drop an apple. I can drop the freaking moon! ~Signed, Kitsune'. And there's a little heart after the name. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Whoever it is saying that he's better than gravity," Kaya said, making Conan jump in surprise when he noticed her leaning very far over his shoulder to look at the note. Somehow, he hadn't even noticed she was there until she said something.

"Better than gravity?" Conan asked.

"That's kinda lame," commented Genta.

"Yeah, if he was trying to sound menacing, he should've said something else. . ." Mitsuhiko trailed off.

"Yeah, like he could defeat Kamen Yaiba or something!" Ayumi exclaimed.

"What?!" Genta shouted in outrage. "Come on, no murderer's ever gonna beat Kamen Yaiba, you know that!"

As the others were fighting, Kaya walked up to the body, grabbing the guy's hand. She mumbled "The Arch Angels aren't going to be happy about this."

_Huh? What the heck is that supposed to mean?_ Shinichi wondered to himself. He'd been getting more suspicious lately, with the whole mess with Mizunashi Rena, and the huge areas that were all poisoned at once, on top of everything else. Plus, his instincts were screaming she was _not right_ somehow. Off, dangerous, and Not Supposed To Be There.

"I found something," Kaya said, looking towards the back of the body. It took a moment, but eventually all six of them managed to get in a position to see what she was pointing to.

"It's a stab wound," said Haibara calmly. Far, far too calmly. "It's not the cause of death either, because there's not enough blood. If I had to guess, the victim was stabbed within fifteen seconds of dying."

Shinichi just looked at her. Honestly, not only did Haibara tend to purposely have no tact whatsoever, she was overly blunt, and couldn't put on a convincing little kid act to save her life.

Especially since, when her life was in danger, the Black Organization was usually around, and she was paralyzed with fear. But that was beside the point.

"Aa. You're right Haibara."

"Ooh, that's mean. I mean, he's about to die and he suddenly gets stabbed by this Kitsune person. How cruel."

"You know," Conan stated, "If it wasn't for the fact that Kitsune is obviously not a real name, I'd say this was a very, very poor attempt at a frame-up that only the snoring mustached guy would fall for."

"'Snoring mustached guy?" Haibara muttered in an amused tone.

"Well what am I supposed to say?" Conan hissed back. "They all know who ossan is anyway, and I could do without them catching me in a lie."

"What was that Conan-kun?" interjected Kaya in an over-the-top, sugary sweet voice.

"It was nothing."

"Oooooooooohh reeaaally?" she asked. Then, shrugging, she continued in that same sweet tone, "Well, if you're sure."

"Ne, shouldn't we be calling the police now?" Mitsuhiko asked. Conan had to admit, he had a very good point.

Genta, however, had an objection. "No way! We can solve this all on our own! We should call them _after_ we catch the criminal, and then we'll be in the newspaper for solving a case all by ourselves!"

"Uwaa, that sounds so cool!" Ayumi squealed. "But Genta, Mitsuhiko's right, we really should call the police. Don't you think so, Conan-kun?"

"Umm, yeah. . . we need to call them," Conan said, being broken out of his trance. He'd been distracted by the odd look on Kaya's face, as if she meant to say that they could never solve the case and calling the police wouldn't help, and that they were naïve fools for thinking the possibility even existed.

"Okay, come on Genta, let's go call the police! You three wait here, okay?" Mitsuhiko asked, though it really wasn't much of a question, before rushing off to find a phone booth.

"So Tantei-san, got any new clues you'd like to share with us?" asked Haibara in a sly voice. Shinichi just glared. _This isn't the time for that._

Shinichi wished she'd at least wait to tease him until they were away from people who Don't Know (Kitsune: can't you just feel the irony? Hint hint.). Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if it was partially her fault someone had caught on to his identity. _Let's see, I told Agasa-hakase, and Hattori definitely figured it out on his own. I think Eisuke said he was suspicious the very first time we met, so probably not him. . . my parents were told by the professor, and god knows how Kaitou Kid found out. . . Amazing, I think the only one who she might've accidentally helped figure it out is Vermouth._

_Oh the irony. Haibara would just_ love _it if I told her that._

"Well the murderer was obviously a full-grown adult, and I actually half-think they're trying to frame someone with that note, but I can't be sure. The cause of death was being hung, possibly after being sedated or threatened and gagged in some way so the culprit got a chance to hang him. The easiest way would be to use a chloroform gag, and wake him up with ammonia after he was hung. The culprit probably proceeded to write the note, before going and stabbing the victim in the back just as he was about to die. I'd like to look for ID, but we need the police to come and record the scene first, as well as get the body down so we can actually reach it."

----------------

_Wow, he's pretty good at this. If only it were a regular crime, he'd be able to solve it easy._

-------------

"So it's a man then, right?" Kaya asked.

"Eh," Shinichi said, looking at her in surprise. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, it's just that that ojii-san looks heavy, and a woman would never murder someone, right? Cause in all the TV shows, men are always the bad guys."

_Oi oi, is this girl really alright?_ Shinichi thought to himself.

"Well, it is true that it would probably be harder with a woman's strength, but it's still feasible. We have to consider all our options while we still have them. As Sherlock Holmes said, 'When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' That doesn't work if you dismiss possibilities right off the bat."

"That's a good point Kaya-chan. Edogawa-kun here just takes things to seriously when he plays detective," Haibara said in an attempt to comfort the girl just in case she got upset.

Shinichi glared at Haibara. _Oi. Play detective? What does she think I am, a little kid?_

Kaya giggled at that. "That's okay. I still really think it's a guy though."

"Guys, the police are coming!" Genta interjected as he and Mitsuhiko ran up.

"Okay, good," Conan replied as he returned to analyzing the scene.

"Ooh, look at that squirrelly! Oh, that reminds me, I have to go home; my mom wants me to do my chores. Bye guys!" Kaya shouted as she ran off.

"That was interesting…" Haibara murmured, just loud enough for Conan to hear.

"You're telling me. That girl's a bit. . . different. I still think there's something off about her though."

----------------------------

They found out the next day that the police couldn't find anything. The only useful evidence was that the man was Kaiba Seto, a small business owner, and that Kaya's fingerprints were on his hand, which they already knew. So it didn't actually count, and essentially the only thing they actually learned was the identity of the victim. (Kira: 4Kids is the most EVIL corporation on the face of the Earth. We'll stop interrupting now.)

"So they didn't find out _anything_ new? That's kinda lame. . ." Kaya mused aloud while sucking on a lollipop.

"They tried, but it's like the killer was intangible or something, except that he obviously found some way of getting the victim up there. It makes no sense!" Shinichi vented in frustration. Something about this case was seriously off.

"Well it's not as if we can do anything about it now. We'll just have to wait till after school, ne?" Haibara replied coolly.

"Okay class, take your seats. Today we'll be learning how to multiply two digit numbers."

"Ugh," Conan groaned while the rest of the class looked on eagerly. "Today's gonna be a bad day."

----------------------------

"Let try something different today!" Ayumi said.

"I think that we should hang out at Conan's! After all, he lives with a real life detective!" Kaya exclaimed happily.

_And how does she know that? _Conan thought, "I don't think that a good idea…"

"Come on, don't be a stick in the mud!" Kaya barked happily.

"Demo. . ."

"Come on Conan-kun, what's wrong with us going over to your house?" Mitsuhiko demanded.

"Uh, nothing. It's just that. . . umm, we're having the apartment fumigated."

Ayumi leaned in closer and narrowed her eyes at him. "You're lying, aren't you Conan-kun?"

"No, it's just that. . ."

"Come on Conan, let us come over!" yelled Genta.

"Yeah," the others chorused.

"I told you, my house is being fumigated. . . Why don't we go over to the professor's instead? Kaya-chan hasn't seen it yet, right?"

"Oh yeah, she hasn't," Ayumi realized, and with that, all thoughts of going to his house were forgotten. There was something to be said for the seven year old attention span, or lack thereof. "Come on! Let's go show Kaya-chan professor Agasa's house!"

No one noticed the more-than-slightly-annoyed look Kaya was sporting at this development, because in the next moment, the other three were dragging her along.

"Yeah," the others agreed eagerly, and soon Conan and Haibara once again found themselves looking at the backs of their friends, who were running on ahead as they headed toward 22 Beika Block.

---------------

"Wow, it's great you're becoming an official member of the Detective Boys Kaya-chan! And the professor's even making you your own badge!" Ayumi squealed.

"I know, it's gonna be so cool!" Kaya replied, clearly just as excited about it as her new friend.

"It's kinda weird though," the professor started. "I was sure I had all the materials here. . . But since the antenna's missing, we'll all have to go to the store. Come on guys," Agasa said, as they went outside and loaded into his bug. It was a really tight fit too.

"Hakase, you need to get a bigger car," Conan told the man, just grateful that he wasn't squashed in the back with the other five. Ouch. That would just be painful.

"I like this car though. . ." Agasa said, and Conan decided not to bother taking the conversation anywhere else. Even if he _did_ feel sorry for the kids (and Haibara) who were trapped in the back seat, Conan was also overwhelmingly glad that he _wasn't_.

Whether he'd inherited his parent's sadistic genes or not was up for debate, but there was definitely something satisfying about seeing them all trapped like that, while not having to endure it himself.

For some reason he couldn't explain, Conan was exceedingly happy that Kaya looked uncomfortable.

**-------------Omake---------------**

"Somehow, I don't think that's the case," Conan said, looking at a paper taped to the man's hand. "Take a look at this note. It says 'Any tree can drop an apple. I can drop the freaking moon, and obliterate all humans on the face of the Earth, Mwahahahahaha! Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, this was a murder. Signed Kitsune.' And there's a little heart at the end. What's this supposed to mean?"

"Maybe they like apples. . ." suggested Kaya.

---------------------------------

Random: Well there you have it. The first chapter of our story. It may take awhile to get out because we're not usually on at the same time, but please put up with that.

Kitsune: Hey, this isn't working! It's supposed to be calling you Kira!

Random: *growls* For the last time, my name is ________! (note: name censored due ot the fact that this is the internet, and I'm not a naive idiot.)

Kitsune: Yeah, whatever Kira. Anyway people, review the story.

Random: Or else she'll bore you to death by talking about irrelevant anime/manga for hours and try to pull up MA-rated manga on your laptop.

Kitsune: Hey! I resent that!

Random: So please review. Till next time!

Kitsune: Bye guys!


	2. And the Plot Thickens

Random: See, I _told _you we weren't going to abandon this story. And it hasn't even been two months since the first chapter came out either. That's pretty good, isn't it?

Kitsune: Two months is a long time if you're a dog. It's like four months!

Random: (stares blankly) What the hell?

Kitsune: Oh, and I thought I told you I changed my name to Squish.

Random: Okay, Squish then. Umm, Squish, have you even been to see professionals. You know, those guys with the white jackets that tie in the back.

Squish: I did, but then they let me go. Said I was too crazy.

Random: Riiiigght. Somehow, I didn't think they did that.

Squish: *akward silence*

Random: Alright then. . . Insert standard disclaimer here.

Squish: And thank you to the two people who favorited/altered this story! You're awesome!

Random: Yeah, thanks guys. And this time, some reviews would be nice. So please review. Because I saw the stats. I _know _119 of you read the first chapter, and no one reviewed. Make us happy. Tell us what you think. Please review.

Squish: Yeah, so I don't be the only one.

Random: Squish, are you flunking English?

Squish: I don't speak too well after Phonics.

Random: . . . You make no sense.

Squish: WORD VOMIT!

Random: My point exactly.

------------------------------

As they were walking into the local electronics store that was Agasa's main supplier, Conan and the rest of the Detective Boys were startled by a scream.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" the clerk yelled, and Shinichi reacted without even thinking about it. He went with his instincts and ran straight over to where the woman was looking. She looked sick, he noticed vaguely, like she was about to throw up.

Once he ran in, he saw why.

There was a man, maybe in his early twenties, who was lying on the floor. Kind of.

Kind of because his head, complete with red-dyed tips to his black hair that was both a result and not a result of the blood, was sitting on a nearby crate. It was gross. The head was grotesque, with a horrified, screaming expression on its face where it sat in a pool of blood. There was a smashed pair of tinted glasses on the floor, and it looked like there were some guts coming out as well, on top of the red-stained crate.

. . . Was that the man's esophagus Shinichi saw, barely sticking out from the base of the neck?

_It probably is,_ Shinichi thought to himself as he carefully ran up for a closer look, but not before attempting to ease the door closed just a little bit more. He didn't need the Detective Boys to see this. It was a miracle they weren't already in there.

"W-wait, wh-what're you do-doing, kid?" the woman asked from where she'd collapsed on the floor.

Shinichi looked back at her, but didn't answer the question, instead ordering "Call the police! And try to keep the others out of here!"

The woman treated the order like a life-line, needing something to focus on so badly. She hurried out to comply, and that was the sign of her Shinichi saw before he fully immersed himself in his work.

_Hmm, rigor mortis has only just started to set in; I'd say the guy's been dead for about half an hour, _Shinichi mused to himself as he carefully examined the body, being careful not to tamper with the evidence.

Too much at least. Even being there could be considered "tampering with the evidence" in his current form.

_How did the culprit decapitate this guy anyway? It'd be impossible to sever someone's neck so cleanly on your own. So what did he use?_

Sirens blared in the background, but Shinichi was so absorbed in the mystery that he was beyond noticing them.

In fact, he was so absorbed in his thinking that it took him a minute to notice when the police burst in. Upon snapping back into reality, he saw some very familiar faces. Among the officers there were Sato and Takagi.

"Conan-kun," Takagi said in a surprised voice. Personally, Shinichi didn't get what was so surprising. He _was_ at a murder scene at least twice a week.

Then again, maybe that was it.

"Yes Takagi-keiji?" Conan asked, dawning the overly-cheerful façade of his seven-year-old self. Even if it was a bit out of place, considering the gruesome murder behind them.

"Uh, nothing. Nevermind," Takagi replied. Conan thought he looked a bit unnerved, and though that could be explained by his semi-callousness towards the corpse behind them, his mind flashed back to a certain bomb case in an elevator, and a promise of answers after they were dead.

"This man's license says he's Asazuki Kousuke, age 21," Sato-keiji declared, being one of the few brave enough to go towards the body. Many of the fresher officers looked somewhat sick themselves. Most who did were eyeing the innards starting to pour out of the man's stud of a neck.

"The approximated time of death is between 3:15 and 3:45 pm. He's been dead for about a half an hour," Sato continued.

Shinichi was only half-listening, because although he wanted to make sure he didn't miss anything, they weren't saying anything he didn't already know.

_How? How did they do it?_ Shinichi thought fiercely, as if the demanding tone could force the universe or his mind to yield the answers.

Shinichi was once again interrupted from his reasoning, this time by a sneeze from behind a stack of boxes near the dead guy. Shinichi ran over, because though it was unlikely, the culprit might've been unintelligent enough to stick around. Or possibly trapped in the storage room.

However, behind the stack of crates, was none other than Kaya. "Uh, who're you, ojou-chan?" Takagi asked from behind him.

"I'm Kazeshini Kaya," Kaya said with a smile on her face. _She looks_ way _too perky for a seven year old at a murder scene,_ Shinichi thought to himself, not even realizing the same could often be said about him.

"Uh, nice to meet you Kaya-chan. What're you doing back here? You should really go out to the front of this store."

This got Kaya to start tearing up a little bit, "I'm sorry policeman-san, but I just had to check and make sure it wasn't my brother! He said he was probably gonna stop by here this afternoon, and when I heard something bad happened, I just had to sneak in! I just had to make sure it wasn't my brother!"

"Was it your brother?" Conan asked, cutting off the reply Takagi had been about to make.

"No. Thank goodness. I don't know what I would've done," Kaya started, the tears welling up. "If he'd died. I just can't think about it!"

"Well we know it's not your brother, so you can relax. Come on, there're some other kids your age ou-"

"Do you mean us Takagi-keiji?" Mitsuhiko's voice called from near the door.

Conan managed to stop himself from face-palming, but was unable to suppress an exasperated sigh.

_I meant for them to stay outside. They shouldn't be seeing this,_ Shinichi thought as he watched the Detective Boys look over the scene.

"That's terrible! How could someone do that?!" Ayumi asked, as if someone might actually be able to answer. Of course, no one could, except maybe the murderer. And even then, Shinichi didn't think the answer would really help much. What was it that drove someone to murder another human being? Shinichi would never understand.

But Ayumi, she really shouldn't be seeing this. None of them should, but especially Ayumi. She was such a sweet, innocent little girl.

And now, because of him, her childhood was being ruined, her innocence and carefree attitude being forced away. The others too. All because of him. All because of Gin and Vodka. All because of Haibara, really Miyano Shiho, alias Sherry.

All because of that stupid, goddamned poison.

"Um, you guys, you should really be outside. . ." Takagi said, trying to convince the kids to leave the horrors.

Unfortunately, Takagi had never really learned how to be assertive. At least not that Conan had ever seen.

Therefore, as was inevitable, the Detective Boys remained in the room. Not that Takagi telling them to get out was likely to have worked anyway. Those kids were really persistent when it came to mysteries, and Conan thought it would take more than that to keep them off the trail of a case.

"Hey!" shouted a cop Conan had never seen before. He was standing on the far side of the room and peering behind a stack of boxes. "You should probably come see this!"

Conan, curiosity aroused, made his way over along with the inspector and the more senior members of the force present.

He didn't really know what he'd expected to see, but it hadn't been that.

There was a rope on the floor, which wasn't really _all that_ out of place.

However, the bloodstains on the rope certainly were. Not to mention that it was obvious that no one had bothered even trying to hide such crucial evidence.

_What's going on? Did the culprit mess up? Or is he trying to gloat, saying we can't catch him?_ Shinichi had to wonder. After all, some of the murderers out there had doubtable sanity. Whether this was one of those, or the murderer was just some kind of sicko was uncertain.

It definitely helped, regardless. The rope was pretty far out of the way, after all. If there were bloodstains on it, that meant it'd been moved since the murder was committed.

"Move the rope! See if there's anything under it. And send the rope to forensics while you're at it," Sato ordered.

Shinichi looked on in anticipation, relatively left alone because the police were so used to his presence at murders. There was nothing else revealed though.

Which meant the rope had probably been used in the trick.

_I'm on to you, culprit. I'll catch you and put you in prison for this, _Shinichi vowed.

----------------------

_He's really focused. It's impressive in a way. I wonder if he'll manage to solve this. . ._

_What the hell happened here anyway? Even_ I _don't know. That's just plain sad._

-----------------------

"Hey, Conan-kun? Well? Are you gonna answer me?" Ayumi asked, jerking Shinichi out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

Ayumi looked annoyed and indignant. Conan admitted that was well within her right, given the circumstances. "Weren't you listening at all?"

"Sorry!" Conan apologized, attempting to placate both the annoyed girl and the two boys behind her, shooting him angry looks. "So, what were you asking?"

"I _asked_ how you thought the murderer did it."

"Why are you bothering to speculate?" Kaya asked rudely. "After all, you'll only get it wrong. Just give up and let the _adults_ solve this murder.

"If they can, that is," Kaya continued, contempt seeping from her tone.

"Hey, that was rude!" interjected Genta, jumping to Ayumi's defense.

"Yeah, leave her alone," Mitsuhiko echoed.

Kaya opened her mouth to retort, but before she could say anything, Haibara put in her own two cents.

"That really wasn't necessary Kazeshini-san. There's no need for you to antagonize Ayumi and the police, not to mention the rest of us. Ayumi didn't do anything wrong, and at least she's not being a weak, stereotypical girl and running screaming into the next room at the sight of this. As for the police, they're simply doing their job. They do actually solve a number of murders, and deserve credit for making Japan safer."

As he listened to Haibara telling Kaya off in her usual cold, quiet tone, made colder than usual at the insult to her friends, Conan noticed something. It said a lot about Haibara, that one little word.

Haibara had said safer. In other words, she didn't actually trust the police to do their job perfectly.

Which made perfect sense when you thought about the fact that no one in the force knew that the Black Organization existed. Not to mention all the other crimes they couldn't solve. And the fact that the police would often deal with the problem _after_ the damage was done, in the case of murders.

As if realizing what she'd just said, Kaya quickly took it back. "Ah, you're right Haibara-chan. Sorry Ayumi-chan, sorry guys. I shouldn't have said that about you guys, or about the police. You're right, they do a good job most of the time. I didn't mean it. Sorry."

Kaya looked suitably sorry and reprimanded, but Conan couldn't help noticing that Haibara was still glaring at her. Somewhat suspiciously too.

Conan cleared his throat as he attempted to break the tension. "I don't know how the culprit did it, but the bloody rope the police found was probably involved in the trick. I don't quite get why the murderer didn't take it with him, but maybe he was trying to gloat or something. A lot of criminals have sanity or intelligence that's slightly lacking. Not to say they all do, obviously, but the only other reason I can think of is that he couldn't get the rope out of here."

"Well that makes sense," Haibara commented. "After all, if you walked out of an electronics store carrying a large amount of bloody rope, someone would've noticed. Especially the clerk."

"Hey, Conan-kun, did they ask the clerk who she saw near the scene this afternoon?" Mitsuhiko asked.

Conan paused for a second, wondering when Mitsuhiko had become so familiar with the investigation process for homicide. Probably some time in the last ten cases, he decided, before answering, "No, not yet. The woman's still traumatized from seeing the body, and the police don't want to risk pushing her for information right now. Not to mention that she'll be a lot more helpful once she's calmed down."

"That's terrible! Is she okay?" Ayumi asked. Of course, in Conan's opinion, it was rather obvious she wasn't okay, but Ayumi probably wanted to know how bad she was.

"Oh, I hope so. That oneesan doesn't deserve this. She shouldn't have to suffer because of some mean criminal!" Kaya spoke up.

"Hey, I know! Kaya-chan, let's go check on her and cheer her up! You come too Haibara!" Ayumi exclaimed as she started heading off, with Kaya following her in a cheerful, bouncy manner and Haibara walking further back in her typical, more reserved fashion.

"You think we should go with them?" Genta asked the other two boys.

"Nah, I think it's probably one of those weird girl things," Mitsuhiko replied, shaking his head.

Much as Conan wanted them away from the scene, he was inclined to agree with Mitsuhiko. Cheering up the woman should be left to the girls. Besides, it gave him an excuse to stay behind and investigate.

--------------------------------

_What're you gonna do now, Detective? There's no witness to tell you who to look for, and the police probably aren't going to find much more._

_You gonna manage to solve this case or not, Detective?_

--------------------------------

Moving away from the other boys as they started a small debate about, umm, something or other, he hadn't really been listening, Shinichi moved back to the center of the crime scene, fully intent on investigating further.

He was just grateful that both Takagi and Sato were there, and were more or less in charge, because they were more likely than anyone else to let him investigate. Especially Takagi-keiji. As for them being in charge, from what Shinichi gathered, Inspector Megure was off investigating another case, and Shiratori had the day off.

Well, it worked for him.

As he poked through supply boxes that one of the officers had gotten permission from the shaky clerk to open, Shinichi steadily became more and more frustrated. No new evidence had turned up, and the clerk went all scared and unresponsive when someone asked her about the case. The girls were trying to calm her down, and the brunette really hoped they succeeded. After all, even if he could figure out the method, it would be mostly useless without a list of suspects and alibis.

Still, he sighed and resigned himself to search further. There had to be something. Anything that could be used to decapitate a man cleanly, in one strike like that would be hard to sneak out. The murder weapon had to be there, he knew it.

However, as he finished rummaging through his fourth box, no one had found anything.

--------------------------

Ten minutes later, Shinichi was more than a little exasperated. Almost all the boxes had been searched, and still no evidence had been uncovered.

Using a knife he'd convinced Agasa to hide in a reseal-able candy wrapper for him—Shinichi still wasn't quite sure how that worked—he cut through the tape sealing the what would become the eighth box he'd looked through. (Kitsune: CANDY-WRAPPER-KNIFE! BEST INVENTION EVER! I WANT ONE!)

The knife wasn't exactly legal, but then again, neither was a lot of stuff he did these days. Having to pretend to be someone who didn't exist meant that you had to cut some corners on certain issues. Such as legal paperwork.

If he'd been normal, a knife would've been okay. As he'd told the professor, he was seventeen, he knew how to use one, and plenty of people carried knives around for safety. Okay, maybe not _that_ many, but he'd known a few people.

Besides, he had a gun permit. His dad had made sure of that, once he'd started being really serious about mysteries, and especially murder investigation. After he'd gotten good enough to solve the cases on his own, of course. He had a gun permit in his real name, he should be allowed to have a knife. He wouldn't even take it out unless it was absolutely necessary.

Or at least, that was the argument he'd given to the professor. Who, for all his intelligence, had very little knowledge about legal proceedings or the way police interpreted weapons laws. Still, he had a knife, and as long as no one found out, he'd be fine.

But he digressed.

The box didn't have anything interesting in it, not really. Just a bunch of headphones, all from the same manufacturer. Shinichi dug further down, but nothing else was unearthed.

_Damn it. Looks like this murderer was smart. And while I do like a challenge, this is just annoying. It's too tedious,_ Shinichi mentally ranted.

Closing the lid of the box, with perhaps a bit more force than was necessary, Shinichi moved on the box at the top of the next, thankfully rather short, stack.

If the stack wasn't so short, he wouldn't have been able to reach it. Seeing as that particular stack was only about three feet high, Shinichi was very, very annoyed. _I swear, one of the most annoying things about this is being so freaking short,_ he thought as he pulled down the top box.

As he cut through the tape, Shinichi wasn't really expecting much. Sure, he couldn't think of any way to get the murder weapon out of the store, but that didn't mean the culprit hadn't. On top of that, Shinichi had realized, there were a lot of boxes in the storage room. Who would've thought that they would actually store things in the storage room?

Just as Shinichi opened the lid, a voice called out from the doorway, "The clerk, Tsumi-san, says she's ready to tell us what she knows, as long as we don't bring her in here!"

_Perfect,_ Shinichi thought turned to face the officer. Just as was about to rush off for the questioning, he saw something shine out of the corner of his eye. _What the. . ._

-----------------------------------

"Are you sure you're okay Tsumi-oneesan?" Ayumi asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tsumi replied, despite the somewhat nauseous look on her face.

"Are you really?" Haibara asked indifferently.

Tsumi looked at her oddly as she replied, "Yeah, I'm good."

"That's good. I'm glad you're feeling better oneesan," Kaya said.

They all turned to look as the police walked in. (Random: They all turned in unison, like some group of creepy robot drones or whatever. Haha. Nah, I'm just kidding.)

"Okay, Tsumi-san, what do you remember about this afternoon, from about three o'clock to four o'clock p.m.?" inquired one of the officers.

"Umm," the clerk replied, looking a tiny bit dazed. "Well, it was a slow day. I only remember three groups of customers. The first one was one man by himself, he just bought an iPod and left. The third group stayed together and out front the whole time too, I think they were a family of three. There was one other group in the middle. There were four guys who came in. They were somewhere between eighteen and twenty-four, if I had to guess. They were mostly looking at video games, but one of them went to look at cell phones from time to time."

"You seem to know a lot about what happened today. Do you normally pay so much attention to everyone who comes in?" Sato asked her.

Tsumi looked slightly embarrassed at being caught with so many details, but informed them, "Well, umm, my boss says to watch everyone who comes in carefully, because even though we don't keep most of the actual products out front, we, umm, still need to watch for thieves. Because most of this stuff is expensive, and well, even one iPod being stolen is a huge profit loss for us."

"What about the four guys? It sounds like you're saying they're most suspicious, but you never finished what you were saying," Sato continued, trying to get as much information as possible without sending the woman back into shock.

"Well, I didn't see what happened to them," she confessed, seconds after Conan walked into. "I, um, had to go to the bathroom."

"Can you tell us more about them?" Conan asked, alerting everyone to his presence, since few had noticed when he walked in.

"Huh? Oh. Well, they came in and, as I said, were mostly looking at the video games. One of them was interested in the cell phones. They were all about the same age as the guy in back." She frowned for a second. "Actually, he was one of them, I think."

As Tsumi continued, her voice became shaky and she was clearly trying to suppress bad memories. "I didn't really see him, and I really don't want to see the scene, but I'm pretty sure it was him. Black hair with red tips, light skin, and glasses, right?"

"Yeah, that's him," Takagi confirmed.

"Then the murderer was probably one of them. There were three others."

"You don't happen to have a name for at least one of them, do you?" Haibara asked coolly, startling Tsumi. Clearly, she wasn't used to kids being so involved with murder investigation. Or so sarcastic and indifferent in the face of murder.

She was also surprised, it was revealed a moment later, because she did, in fact, have a name. "Y-Yes, actually. I do. One of them bought a video game. The computer should still have a copy of the receipt," Tsumi said as she got up and walked over to the register, being very, very careful to avoid getting even a glimpse of the storage room.

After several minutes of typing and clicking that Conan assumed was her looking through the computer's records, she motioned for Sato to come over with a, "Got it."

"Hagmata Sora," Sato announced, before proceeding to issue orders. "Alright! You two go and find him. Make sure you get them names of his companions and bring all three of them back here. You, go call the department and check and see if this guy or Asazuki-san has a record. Check the other guys too when you get their names. You three, make sure there's nothing else we need to do before questioning those three guys and Tsumi-san. The rest of you, keep checking the crime scene. I want to figure out how this was done."

-------------------------------

Squish: I want my old name back!

Random: Okay. Fine. Just wait until the next chapter. Then you can have your old name back.

Squish: But why?!

Random: Because I said so, and I'm the one who's typing this up.

Squish: *sigh*

Squish: Review everyone! Now! Please. Just push that rectangular, green button right there. Type something in. It's not that hard!


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